Iggy Azalea’s Pittsburgh Pride headline performance cancelled: Why?

Iggy Azalea has been dropped from Pittsburgh Pride. And it’s all because of tweets she sent circa 2011.

Previously, Iggy was announced as the Pittsburgh Pride: Pride in the Street headliner. Soon after, however, people asked WHY! Because the rapper has a storied and well-documented history of saying problematic things on Twitter.

It’s been about 3 weeks since she was named the star of gay pride. And now, following a backlash over her past racist and homophobic tweets, she’s been dropped! The event organisers released a statement:

Delta Foundation of Pittsburgh
IGGY AZALEA ANNOUNCES CANCELLATION OF PERFORMANCE AT PRIDE IN THE STREET; PRIDE IN THE STREET EVENT TO BE HELD WITH NEW ENTERTAINMENT LINE UP TO BE ANNOUNCED

June 8, 2015 — Pittsburgh, PA — The Delta Foundation of Pittsburgh, one of the region’s leading lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organization has announced that Iggy Azalea has cancelled her performance at Pride in the Street. Azalea was the headliner for the concert/fundraiser that was scheduled to be held this Saturday, June 13 on Liberty Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh.

According to the Foundation, “We are working on new entertainment which we hope to announce shortly.” […]

According to the Board of the Foundation, “Since our initial announcement, we have been working very closely with Ms. Azalea’s management, publicists and agent regarding the concerns of some of our community. Pittsburgh Pride is about our community and allies coming together and showing how diverse and accepting we are as a city.

Over the years, we have seen many hearts and minds change including support for marriage equality, treating all with dignity and respect and most recently the support for Caitlyn Jenner. We’re sorry that our headliner choice caused a division within our community but we believe that change happens through conversation. We are meeting with key LGBT leaders to start a discussion that will make our collective community even stronger.”

In response, Iggy tweeted that she was not an “adult” when she wrote the original tweets. That is untrue. She is currently 25-years-old. Every negative tweet was written when she was 21-years-old or older.

In the past, Iggy denied sending the racist and anti-LGBT tweets. Today, at least, her team admitted the wrongdoing that got her kicked off the performance:

“I am truly disappointed that I have to share this news, but I will no longer be performing at Pittsburgh Pride on June 13th. This has been a difficult decision as I truly support the event and LGBTIQA communities, however I feel my participation at this point would only serve to further distract from the true purpose of the event. I am a firm believer in equality.

Unfortunately in the past as a young person, I used words I should not have. The last thing I want is for something so carelessly said to be interpreted as reflective of my character. I meant no harm and deeply regret ever uttering those words. As an adult I would never use them because I understand they play a detrimental role in the fight for issues that I do truly believe in. I am sorry to anyone I have offended or disappointed & I wish all my fans and friends participating in Pride the best of luck.”